Charing Cross, London

The painting shows a dispute between a timid young woman with a hackney coachman over the travel fare that is holding on his hand. A fashionably dressed young man intercedes on her behalf raising one finger in the air. Behind them, a busy coach is about to leave for a country destination, the coachman raising his bugle to his lips announces its imminent departure. The statue of Charles I on horseback by Le Sueur, is partially visible in the background with Northumberland House (demolished in 1874) on the right. Most of the northern part of Charing Cross area was levelled in the 1830s for the construction of Trafalgar Square, a new Golden Cross Inn was built, and Charing Cross railway station opened in 1864 along with the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross.
James Holmes was a member of the Associated Artists in Water Colours. He focused on painting portraits, miniatures and genre scenes and had a successful career as painting instructor. The engraver R.M. Meadows and the Royal Academy schools were substantial pieces of his educational background. He also became the president of the Society of British Artists in 1829, of which he was previously a founder member.